The Winner of The Doppelganger’s Dance

Jody has won a copy of The Doppelganger’s Dance by Libi Astaire. Congrats to Jody!

Thanks to Libi Astaire for the story about the Great Synagogue in Georgian London. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.

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The Night the Royal Dukes Visited the Synagogue

Libi Astaire author photoRelevant History welcomes Libi Astaire, author of the Ezra Melamed historical mystery series set in Regency England. The series has received accolades from the Jewish Book Council, and the first book, The Disappearing Dowry, received a Sydney Taylor Notable Book Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries. To find out more about the series, or to read an excerpt from the latest mystery, The Doppelganger’s Dance, check Libi’s web site and look for her on Facebook.

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When I was young, one of my favorite Broadway musicals was Bye Bye Birdie, the show that chronicles the excitement of a small Midwestern town when a rock and roll star comes to visit. What does rock and roll have to do with Regency England? Not much at first glance. But I did think of Bye Bye Birdie the first time I came across an account of a visit that set Regency London’s Jewish community all aflutter.

London's Great Synagogue by AckermanOn the night of Friday 14 April 1809, three of England’s Royal Dukes—the Dukes of Cumberland, Sussex and Cambridge—attended the Sabbath Evening Services at London’s Great Synagogue, which was the central place of worship for England’s Ashkenazic community. This wasn’t the first time that a member of the Royal Family had visited a London synagogue, but such an honor was a rare occurrence. The fact that there would be three of them—and at a time when the Emancipation of the Jews was being hotly discussed in drawing rooms and coffee houses throughout England—was enough to send the small community into a whirlwind of frenetic activity as they made their preparations to welcome these influential visitors.

A Royal Welcome
The first time around, Jews didn’t do so well in Britain. William the Conqueror invited Jewish merchants from the Continent to settle in England, since he needed someone to act as his financiers, but the Jews were expelled from the country in 1290 by King Edward I.

Although there was a small group of crypto-Jews from Spain and Portugal living in England during Shakespeare’s time (I wrote about these refugees from the Spanish Inquisition in my novel The Banished Heart), Jews weren’t allowed to live openly as Jews until the 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell famously decided not to decide if Jews should be allowed back into England or not. Thanks to that loophole, the second chapter of Anglo-Jewish history began.

Some of the Jews who arrived in the late 1600s and 1700s were descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. These wealthy Sephardic Jewish merchants (Sepharad is the Hebrew word for Spain) had extensive trade connections that made them welcome not only at Cromwell’s palace, but at the royal courts of Charles II and William III.

There was also a sizeable community of Ashkenazic Jews who came from countries such as Germany (Ashkenaz in Hebrew), Bohemia, Holland and even faraway Poland. Although there were some wealthy merchants among their ranks, the Ashkenazic community was mainly comprised of poor Jews escaping the religious persecution that was prevalent on the European Continent.

Not all Englishmen welcomed this influx of foreigners. Indeed, the newcomers faced barriers in just about every sphere. Foreign-born Jews, the majority of the community until the early 1800s, couldn’t own property or engage in foreign trade unless they could afford to pay special taxes. No Jew could become a Member of Parliament, attend an English university or become an officer in the army or navy. Jews couldn’t open a retail business within the area that comprised the ancient City of London. They also couldn’t vote—although that was a privilege denied to many Englishmen and all women. In fact, one reason why some Englishmen were so against Jewish Emancipation was because they feared it would lead to all Englishmen being allowed to vote. (They couldn’t imagine that women would ever demand and get that right.)

Still, England was a tolerant haven in comparison to Europe. And during the Georgian era (1714–1830) the Jews found they had friends in English society, including some in very high places.

A Loyal Response
The royal visit to the Great Synagogue was arranged by Abraham Goldsmid, a wealthy Jewish financier who was friends with several members of the Royal Family, including the Duke of Sussex (Prince Frederick Augustus) and the Duke of Cambridge (Prince Adolphus Frederick).

Although the members of the Great Synagogue had only two weeks to prepare, according to press reports they did admirably. A welcoming service comprised of poems and songs was hastily put together. England’s chief rabbi, Rabbi Solomon Hirschell, was garbed in an elegant white satin robe made especially for the occasion. The synagogue’s interior was also spruced up, thanks to the new crimson velvet curtains furnished by a rising star on the London financial scene, Nathaniel Rothschild.

Then the hour arrived—half past six—and it’s not hard to imagine the community’s excitement as the rumble of the approaching carriages grew louder. When those elegant carriages came to a halt, Jewish children dressed in their Sabbath finery were there to greet the visitors, strewing the path to the synagogue’s entrance with flowers. And when the royal entourage stepped inside the candle-lit sanctuary, they were greeted by a full choir, which sang:

Open wide the gates for the princely train
The Heav’n-blessed offspring of our King
Whilst our voices raise the emphatic strain
And God’s service devout we sing.

Satire of royal dukes visit by RowlandsonOf course, not everyone was pleased with this public recognition of the Jewish community. Thomas Rowlandson, one of the era’s most popular caricaturists, ridiculed the event in a satirical cartoon that very likely reflected the feelings of those against giving Jews (and Catholics) full political and civil rights.

However, the royal visit is considered one of the steps along the path to the Emancipation of England’s Jews later that century. True, it was only a symbolic gesture, but it’s often the symbolic social gesture that paves the way for political and legal change. It’s therefore no wonder that this royal visit was still being enthusiastically discussed by members of the Great Synagogue for many years afterward.

It’s also a matter of pride for the fictional members of the Great Synagogue who are at the heart of my Ezra Melamed Mystery Series. They too remember that great day when the three Royal Dukes came to visit—that is, when they’re not too busy trying to solve the latest “white cravat” crime that is causing an upheaval in their community.

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The Doppelganger's Dance book coverA big thanks to Libi Astaire. She’ll give away a trade paperback copy of The Doppelganger’s Dance to someone who contributes a comment on her post this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

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Winners from the 2014 Week-Long Fourth of July

Essayist: Lars D.H. Hedbor
Contribution: signed paperback set of the first three books in the author’s series
Winner: Lynn Demsky

Essayist: Helena Finnegan
Contribution: a $5 Amazon gift certificate
Winner: Sheila Ingle

Essayist: Dr. Christine Swager
Contribution: paperback copy of Musgrove Mill Historic Site
Winner: Tracy Smith

Essayist: David Neilan
Contribution: DVD of the South Carolina ETV program “Chasing the Swamp Fox”
Winner: Tate Jones

Essayist: Sheila Ingle
Contribution: paperback copy of Brave Elizabeth
Winner: Denise Duvall

Essayist: Jack Parker
Contribution: $10 discount certificate toward the purchase of a copy of Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina
Winner: Lars D.H. Hedbor

Essayist: Suzanne Adair
Contribution: winner’s choice of one title from author’s publications
Winner: Jenni Gate

Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to my wonderful essayists who contributed so much to this year’s program. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on the posts during the “Week-long Fourth of July.” Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.

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Religious Diversity in America During the Revolution

Freedom to Read hop imageWelcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

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For two centuries, a number of myths have circulated about certain aspects of the American War of Independence. Other historians and I have debunked some of those myths in our writings. One worth examining for 21st-century Americans is the myth that the civilian population during the Revolution was made of zealous Protestants. You can see an example of that myth in the historically inaccurate movie “The Patriot,” with its imagery of an overly enthusiastic young woman recruiting men from a Protestant congregation into joining a militia against the redcoats.

Firebrand Protestants could definitely be found during the war. Britons sometimes referred to the American War as the “Presbyterian War.” But although a good number of people of the thirteen colonies and surrounding territories were Christians, they weren’t all Presbyterians or even Protestants. And the residents of America certainly weren’t all Christian.

Christianity in America during the Revolution
In Revolutionary America, Christianity was splintered into diverse sects that weren’t on the same page about how their faith should be interpreted and expressed. Probably the largest and most influential sects were Anglicans, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians. In addition, there were groups of Puritans, Dutch Reformed, Quakers, Lutherans, Baptists, Anabaptists, Mennonites, Amish, Eastern Orthodox, and English Roman Catholics. There were likely also groups of French Huguenots and Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Catholics. Thus Christianity in Revolutionary America was by no means a unified religion.

Founding Fathers
Most of America’s founding fathers were Christian, but the religious persuasions of a few elude definition. “Deism” has been the label ascribed to the religious preferences of certain of America’s prominent founding fathers. In his book The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution, historian Gregg L. Frazer makes the case that John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and several others were actually theistic rationalists—neither deists nor Christians.

Jews
Haym SolomonA financial broker who helped fund the Continentals, Haym Solomon, an Ashkenazi Jew from Poland, is the most famous Jew associated with the American War of Independence. From the number of congregations in existence at the time of the war, Solomon must have been one of many Jews in America. The goals of the Congress appealed to most Jews because they’d been persecuted for centuries elsewhere in the world.

Muslims
Ayuba Suleiman DialloOn occasion, Africans captured for the slave trade proved to be literate Muslims who could transcribe the Quran from memory. Here are two examples provided by Daniel Dillard, a doctoral candidate in religion at Florida State University:

Job Ben Solomon Jallo (1701–1773), also known as Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, a Senegalese Muslim of aristocratic birth enslaved for a brief period in Maryland, composed three separate copies of the Quran solely from memory. Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (1762–1829), also known as Abd ar-Rahman, the famous West African prince enslaved for 40 years in Mississippi, occasionally delighted audiences by telling them he was writing out ‘‘The Lord’s Prayer’’ in Arabic, when in actuality he had transcribed the first sura, or chapter, of the Quran, known as the fatiha.

George Sale translated the Quran into English, advertised it in American newspapers, and made it available in bookshops. As a result, a number of Americans during the Revolution owned copies of the Quran and were familiar with the Muslim religion.

Thomas Jefferson studied the Quran. It may have influenced his work on the Declaration of Independence.

Other Non-Christians
Native Americans engaged in various spiritual practices—monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, or a combination of those. Indentured servants from the British Isles or Germany who were transported or took passage to better themselves brought with them folk religions in addition to Christianity. Captured Africans who weren’t Muslim contributed varied polytheistic religions to the mix, and those slaves who embraced Christianity in America didn’t always abandon their native religion.

Thomas JeffersonA number of the nation’s founders left written records showing that they were comfortable with and supportive of faiths other than Christianity. Plus they’d seen the problems caused by state religions in other parts of the world. After the Treaty of Paris, for the good of the new country, they steered the development of the United States of America toward a government that would tolerate a variety of religions. Here are Thomas Jefferson’s famous words about religion and government:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

In America, religion-based hate crimes undermine the goal of religious diversity that the country’s founders sought. Such crimes destabilize the freedoms we enjoy today—freedoms that thousands of people purchased for us with their lives from 1775–1783 and in subsequent wars.

What do you think about the position of our founders on religious diversity? In what ways would America be different today had their position been less tolerant?

The 2014 “Week-long Fourth of July” wouldn’t have been possible without you or my talented guests: Lars D.H. Hedbor, Helena Finnegan, Dr. Christine Swager, David Neilan, Tim Osner, Sheila Ingle, and Jack Parker. What worlds can they open for you? Browse back through the posts. Look for their works. Then comment here on something you learned this week that made history relevant to you. Thanks for stopping by!

(Thanks to James Stewart, Thad Weaver, William Myers, and Martha Katz-Hyman for input on this essay.)

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Deadly Occupation ebook coverRegulated for Murder ebook coverA Hostage to Heritage ebook cover

Con­tribute a legit­i­mate com­ment on this post by today at 6 p.m. ET to be entered in a draw­ing to win a copy of one of my books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook). Deliv­ery is avail­able world­wide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll pub­lish the names of all draw­ing win­ners on my blog the week of 14 July.

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The Winning of the Revolution in South Carolina

Freedom to Read hop imageWelcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Jack Parker author photoRelevant History welcomes Jack Parker, who was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Delaware, and has lived in Virginia, California, Colorado, and South Carolina. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Education and served four years in the U.S. Navy as an Asst. Navigator aboard the USS Spiegel Grove, then as Navigator and Executive Officer aboard the USS Pitkin County. After leaving the Navy, he moved to Colorado, rode and packed horses into the Gunnison Wilderness Area. He then spent five years living aboard a 43-foot yawl home ported in Charleston, SC, and taught several people to sail and live on the water. For more information, and to purchase Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, check his web site.

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South Carolina was a leader in the Revolutionary War with many battles, skirmishes and murders. Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina was written to put the location with the “what happened there” for the actions in South Carolina, to educate those that believe the war was fought and won in the north. South Carolina was in the forefront of the war and the founding of our nation from the beginning.

The second edition of Parker’s Guide is the most complete publication on the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. The little-known events of the war in South Carolina are related here to inform everyone about the contribution of South Carolina in winning the Revolution.

One issue dividing the colonies from their motherland was that the British government required tax stamps for imported goods. On 18 October 1765, the ship Planters Adventure delivered the stamps to Fort Johnson, on James Island, where they were stored. The HMS Speedwell was stationed close to the fort on 23 October to deter an angry mob of citizens from Charleston. Two days later, the mob boarded the Carolina Packet that was thought to be carrying more stamps and the stamp officer, Mr. George Saxby, but he was not due until the next day. On 26 October, the Heart of Oak (built in Mt. Pleasant, SC) sailed into the harbor with Mr. Saxby aboard. That night, 150 volunteers from Charleston, commanded by Col. Daniel Stevens, captured twelve guards and a sergeant and took over the fort with the stamps. Upon the Speedwell sighting the “Liberty” flag of Patriot Christopher Gadsden instead of that of the British, a party was sent to the fort, where they were told the stamps must be removed from the fort and the province or they would be burned. Believing the Americans would not be deterred, the Speedwell removed the stamps and sailed out of the harbor. This action is often overlooked because it is prior to the Revolution’s accepted starting date, but is significant since it relates to the stamp problems in New England.

A Patriot, Dr. John Haley, killed Peter DeLancey, a prominent New York Tory, in a duel at a Charleston tavern. Before and during the Revolution, many notable Charlestonians met to drink and discuss politics at McCrady’s Tavern. DeLancey came to Charleston in 1771 and may have been killed over politics or a woman. The reason for his killing is unknown.

Peter DeLancey was the son of New York Royal Lt. Gov. James DeLancey. The killing of Peter DeLancey in Charleston resulted in Loyalist Brig. Gen. Oliver DeLancey raising and commanding a provincial regiment (three battalions), known as DeLancey’s Brigade of light horse troops to fight the South Carolina Patriots in 1776.

In 1775, the arms stored in the attic of the State House by the British were seized by the Americans. This was the scene of the first significant incident of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. This incident happened just two days after Patriots fired on the British at Lexington, Massachusetts.

The war was used as an excuse for robbery and violently settling disputes. The Harrison Brothers plundered the Patriots to enrich themselves with the blessing of the British forces. The Tories on Lynches Creek, in the vicinity of M’Callum’s Ferry, began their murders and depredations early in the war. Matthew Bradley, Thomas Bradley, and John Roberts, all respectable and upstanding citizens who had joined neither party, were murdered in their homes, possibly with some other members of the Salem Black River Presbyterian Church congregation. The three Harrison brothers joined the local Tories; John Harrison later became a major and Samuel became a captain of the “South Carolina Rangers” in the British provincial service. British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton called them “men of fortune.” They were three of the worst bandits of the area. Before the fall of Charleston to the British, they lived in a wretched log hut by the road near M’Callum’s Ferry over the Lynches Creek (River), just east of modern Bishopville, SC. As an example of the recriminations and civil war, the Americans killed Robert Harrison in his home. After the war was over, the major retired to Jamaica as a rich man with the wealth accumulated from looting Patriots’ homes and robbing his neighbors.

Six pounder cannon being loadedWithin four months after Gen. Nathanael Greene’s return to South Carolina, his Southern Continental Army, with South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia state troops and militia, broke the British hold on the interior by eliminating the Crown’s posts one by one. American mounted detachments carried the war almost to the gates of Charleston. A decisive blow was dealt to the British on the battlefield at Eutaw Springs in September of 1781.

Old White Meeting House church siteEutaw Springs was essentially a draw, but the battle was both a material and moral victory for the Americans. The British suffered such heavy losses that they could no longer exert control beyond Charleston and its immediate environs. The British troops at Eutaw Springs were to reinforce Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, but because of their heavy losses in this battle, they retreated to Moncks Corner and to White’s Meeting House (Dorchester County) to recover. Since the British in the Battle of Eutaw Springs were unable to reinforce Cornwallis, he was defeated.

The war in South Carolina did not end with the surrender of Cornwallis, but continued until September 1783. It is generally thought that the War in SC ended when the British withdrew from Charlestown in December 1782, but there were some murders and retributions thereafter. The final act of revenge for the war was carried out in 1807 with the shooting of “Ned Turner,” one of William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham’s right hand men, by John and William, sons of Stokely Towles who was killed by Ned Turner on 18 November 1781.

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Parker's Guide book coverA big thanks to Jack Parker. He’ll provide a $10.00 discount certificate toward the purchase of a copy of Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina for someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Wednesday 9 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 9 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

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Brave Elizabeth

Welcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed … Continue reading

Tears of the Foot Guards

Freedom to Read hop imageWelcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Tim Osner author photoRelevant History welcomes Tim Osner, who lives in Melvin Village, NH and has been a finalist in 2011 in the Faulkner/Wisdom Literary Competition for his novel, Tears of the Foot Guards and as a short-list finalist in 2005 for his novel, Miles Christi. Tim is the principle partner in a healthcare consulting firm. He has also been a commercial photographer in Chicago, specializing in large locations shooting for ad agencies and corporations. An ardent student of history, Tim has been a Revolutionary War re-enactor since 1984 in the re-created grenadier company of the Brigade of Guards on American Service. Look for him on Redroom. He may be contacted at tim.osner (at) tcosner (dot) com.

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WERE I, like N I O B E, all tears – I’d weep,
And swell the Water of the mighty Deep:
If chang’d like A R E T H U S A to a Stream,
In Tears I’d flow – and Beauty make my Theme.
Curse the Madness of the Times – and those
Who made America our fellest Foes! . . .

So begins the satirical poem, “Tears of the Foot Guards”, published in 1776 by an “Ensign of the Army,” accusing the Guards of puppyism and cowardice upon their departure for the American war.

Tears of the Foot Guards book coverWhat shall I write here about the Guards during the American Revolution? It took me nearly twenty years and many hundreds of pages for the novel that is to come out in 2015. Twenty years, I admit it—writing and rewriting, and just when I thought I was finished, I’d discover something new, and though I love the history, my task was first and foremost to tell a story.

As to the poem’s veracity, one needs only to examine the Guards’ service to see that it is patently untrue. The American actions stack up to any in their celebrated history.

Sir George Osborn commander of the Guards grenadier company in America 1776-1777When the call went out among the three regiments for volunteers to form the brigade, so many petitioned that a draft was held, and fifteen privates were picked from each of the Guards’ companies to form the composite brigade of one thousand officers and men for America Service. I could talk about their campaign uniform derived from lessons learned in the French & Indian War. How they were veterans all; in the grenadier company the average age was thirty-four with fourteen years experience. They practiced marksmanship in preparation for battle. They engaged in light infantry maneuvers to fight on broken ground. Their officers, privileged sons, were often scrappers; Capt. Watson and Lt. Col. Hyde of the 3rd and 1st Guards engaged in an impromptu duel over an old house both their companies had earmarked to demolish for firewood while occupying Philadelphia (Lt. Col. Hyde received a stab wound in his arm). On another occasion, Coldstream ensign, George Eld, made quick work of a bullying Highland officer late one night in a crowded New York coffee house. Theirs was a great pride and élan. When Lord Percy found the Guards had been assigned to his division at the Battle of Brooklyn, in a letter home, he nearly gushed over them—what splendid fellows they are. Cock-of-the-Walk. They were hard fought and in the thick of many actions. If the war had been won, what additional honors would adorn their Regimental Colours.

When I think about the Guards on American Service, what is most striking is that these were soldiers who wanted to fight this war, who believed they were preserving liberties derived from a constitutional monarchy. To them, the enemy was rabble faction hijacking the rule of law and threatening loyal citizens. They, as other British regiments, were in a hostile country thousands of miles from home. To many, it was the other side of the world. And towards the end, they found themselves embroiled in a savage civil war. “The violence and passions of these people are beyond every curb of religion, & Humanity…violences of every kind, unheard of before…” (Charles O’Hara, Coldstream Guards, January 6, 1781.)

Recreated 1st and3rd Guards grenadiersOf the actions the Guards are known for during the Revolution, most notably Guildford Court House and the Catawba Crossing, the one that stands out to me is the nighttime sortie at Yorktown. Cornwallis’ army was surrounded without hope. The Americans and the French had taken redoubts #9 and #10 the night before, allowing the allies’ batteries to come within 300 yards. A forlorn hope was ordered to spike the allies’ guns to buy time for escape and, in the event of surrender, buy the honors of war.

At 4:00 a.m. a sortie composed the Light Infantry, the grenadier company of the 80th Foot, and the grenadier company of the Guards moved out the Hornwork, silent with bayonets fixed and flints pulled. They crossed the scarred no-mans land of three hundred yards and entered the gap between the French and American batteries. A quick and vicious fight occurred, the British spiking the guns with the tip of their bayonets as they had no spiking nails. They tumbled back as French troops began to overwhelm them. As the British retreated, a lone Guards grenadier sergeant stood on the parapet fighting off the French hand-to-hand so the party could escape. His was struck twelve times before he went down.

After the surrender, Samuel Graham of the 76th Foot was allowed to visit the Allied works. French officers showed him the sergeant’s grave whom they had buried with full honors, saying, “Voila un de vos braves gens.”

I think about soldiers. Then and now. Thinking they’re not much different—ordinary men far from home and transformed by horrific situations. I was reading T. E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and in the opening chapter he said of war: “We lived always in the stretch or sag of nerves, either on the crest or in a trough of waves of feeling.” So I guess of Revolutionary soldiers. I guess it of the Guards. My hope is that I’ve given them a good story.

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A big thanks to Tim Oster. Anyone who comments on this post by 6 p.m. ET on Monday 7 July will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

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Reclaiming One of History’s Treasures

Freedom to Read hop imageWelcome to my blog, and Happy Fourth of July! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Christine Swager author photoRelevant History welcomes back Dr. Christine Swager, who writes about actions in the south during the Revolutionary War. In the six books she has published, she has covered the militia contributions to the success of the Patriot cause. Although her books are historically accurate, she writes for a general readership, especially teachers and students. She is determined to make history interesting as well as informative. To recognize her work, the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution awarded her their Lifetime Youth Achievement Award. She is also a recipient of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution’s Martha Washington Medal. Look for her on Facebook.

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On the hot summer night of 18 August 1780, two hundred armed men left their militia camp on the Broad River in South Carolina, and moved furtively through the area until they reached the road. Then they spurred their horses toward their objective, forty miles south. They were intent on attacking the enemy at Musgrove’s Mill on the Enoree River. An encampment of local Loyalist or Tory militia (settlers loyal to the King) was guarding a hospital site where wounded British soldiers were being housed. The site was at a ford which allowed passage for British troops stationed at Ninety-Six to cross the Enoree River and attack the settlers farther north.

The British wounded at Musgrove’s Mill were casualties of a month of skirmishes in the area north of the Enoree and most of those same Patriot militia who were headed in their direction had inflicted those wounds. Now they would finish the job. They expected to strike at dawn and overwhelm the unsuspecting Loyalist militia.

Who were these determined men? There were three commanders: Col. Elijah Clarke with his Wilkes County Militia from Georgia; Col. Isaac Shelby with his Over Mountain Men from what is now East Tennessee, (although at that time it was Western North Carolina); and Col. James Williams of the Little River Militia in South Carolina with men from other units. Col. Williams and his militia lived south of the Enoree River within a few miles of the British post at Ninety-Six. Their homes and families were threatened. Other locals who lived in the area and shared their concerns joined them.

Pivotal battle, patriot victory
RedcoatsHowever, they encountered a Tory patrol so the element of surprise was lost. To complicate the situation, they learned upon arrival that the night before, a contingent of soldiers from Ninety-Six had arrived and was camped at Musgrove’s Mill. Now they were seriously outnumbered by a force of trained, experienced and disciplined British Provincials. With the horses too fatigued from the long ride in the heat to affect a retreat, the Patriots were determined to fight. They threw up a rude barricade on the crest of a hill some distance from the British camp. To lure the enemy within range of their weapons, Capt. Shadrick Inman of Georgia led a small group of horsemen toward the British line and attacked repeatedly. The British crossed the river and moved into a cleared field below the militia line. When they came within range the militia fired. The subsequent battle was one of the most hotly contested that Col. Isaac Shelby reported that he had ever seen.

Militia redeployment and firingEventually the British were routed, and as they fled, the militia followed pouring shot into the backs of the retreating enemy. The Patriots stopped at the river’s edge to wait for their horses to be brought up, as they intended to force the British back to Ninety-Six and attack that post. As they waited a courier arrived telling them that the British had defeated the Continental Army at Camden on 16 August and had overrun Thomas Sumter’s Brigade at Fishing Creek. They were advised to head north and west as the British would now move more resources into the Back Country.

The victors mounted up and headed away from the battlefield leaving on the field sixty-three British dead and ninety wounded, and took with them seventy prisoners. The Patriots lost four men. One, sadly, was the hero Capt. Shadrick Inman. The Battle at Musgrove’s Mill had been a decisive victory with Patriot militia mauling and routing a superior force of British Provincials. It was wise to leave and live to fight another day.

And they did fight another day. Many of these men defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and his men at King’s Mountain, rode with Col. Thomas Sumter when he defeated Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton at Blackstock’s and stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, at Cowpens and helped General Daniel Morgan defeat a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Tarleton.

However, it all started with the militia engagements in July and August, and, most notably, the Battle of Musgrove’s Mill. Would you not think that the site would have been preserved and revered through the years following the Revolutionary War? That was not the case. The site was abandoned and overlooked for over two hundred years! Musgrove Ford was used for generations, and a bridge was eventually built over the Enoree River at that site. Cotton fields flourished along the Enoree River until the land was depleted and erosion pockmarked the terrain. As people traveled the road, there was little evidence of the great battle that had been fought there.

Saving the battle site from obscurity
Musgrove MillIn the late 1990’s, historian Dr. George Fields determined to save the battlefield. “If the participants could march over forty miles behind the British lines to raid a fortified camp, face an enemy twice the size they expected, inflict more casualties on the enemy than in their ranks, and retreat in a forced march for two days to avoid capture behind the lines, we should, could and somehow would do the hard task of saving the battlefield,” said Fields. With the help of local citizens and businesses, he raised money to purchase a large part of the battlefield. Donnie Wilder, State Representative from Laurens County, persuaded the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to commit to establishing the property as an historic site. On 5 May 2003, the Musgrove Mill State Historic Site was dedicated—222 years after the battle fought there contributed to the victory of our Patriot forces and the founding of our United States of America.

This month, when we celebrate the birth of our nation, we might consider the debt owed to these citizen soldiers and honor them. Are there sites in your area that could and should be saved after all these years? If it could happen in rural South Carolina, you might make it happen where you live.

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Musgrove Mill Historic Site book cover imageA big thanks to Christine Swager. She’ll give away an autographed copy of her book, Musgrove Mill Historic Site, in trade paperback format to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Saturday 5 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 5 July deadline will also be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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The Southern Theater of the American Revolution

Freedom to Read hop imageWelcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Lars D.H. Hedbor author photoRelevant History welcomes Lars D. H. Hedbor, a novelist of the American Revolution, focusing on the everyday experiences of ordinary people during that extraordinary era of chaotic change. The novels of his Tales From a Revolution series—The Prize, The Light, The Smoke, and now, The Declaration—examine little-known aspects of the Revolution, and are each set in a different Colony or future state. Hedbor resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and five daughters and enjoys practicing fiddle, homebrewing and amateur astronomy when he’s not otherwise occupied. For more information, check his web site, and look for him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Most popular histories of the American Revolution focus on the events of the northern Colonies, where, indeed, many of the pivotal moments of the war and the philosophy of governance that animated the movement for independence were centered. However, the southern Colonies were also crucial to the eventual success of the war, both because it provided crucial logistical routes to move goods for both military and civilian needs despite the forced closure of ports at Boston and New York, but also because many of the leading figures of the Revolution originated in the South.

140702-Button GwinnettTo be sure, there was greater support for the Crown in the South than in the North, in part because of the same deeply-held cultural resistance to change that characterizes the Deep South of the modern era, and in part because of the wildly different social structure of the plantations as compared to the North’s more typical smallholders. However, there was no shortage of Patriot hotheads south of the future Mason-Dixon line in the heady days leading to the outright break with England: men such as Button Gwinnett, William Polk, and Samuel Wear.

False Declaration from Colliers July 1905While no copy of it has been found (yet), the 20 May 1775 declaration by a gathering of delegates from militia companies around Mecklenburg County, North Carolina that they were a “free and independent people” would have anticipated the Continental Congress’ Declaration of Independence by over a full year. The existence of this earlier declaration has aroused no lack of controversy over the years, including at least one fraudulent re-creation of its supposed original publication in the Cape Fear Mercury in June of 1775.

The Declaration book coverAs it is, the well-documented Mecklenburg Resolves of May 31, 1775 were fully as radical as anything adopted in the northern Colonies, and the historical record is unambiguous about the vigor of various Committees of Correspondence, and later, well-armed Committees of Safety across the southern Colonies. Of course, as imagined in the pages of The Declaration, the discovery in an old family chest stashed away in the corner of some dusty attic of an authentic copy of the alleged Mecklenburg Declaration would reinvigorate the claim by proud North Carolinians of their special role in the drive toward eventual American independence.

It may be that part of the reason that our popular memory of the Revolution omits most of the events in the southern Colonies is simply that it was there that the American cause suffered its greatest defeats. With the active assistance of Loyalist forces, the British conquered and occupied most of the southern Colonies until the waning days of the war in the north.

The occupation was ungentle, even brutal at times, and the suffering of those who had stood against the Crown has received some attention in a film of recent years, but is still largely forgotten. Forced to sign loyalty oaths, dispossessed of their property (both real estate and other), and even subjected to violence at the hands of Loyalists, those who had supported the rebellion against Britain paid a high price for their convictions.

Francis MarionIn the end, however, the rebellious Americans prevailed, and between the efforts of the well-known “Swamp Fox” General Marion and the pivotal battle at Cowpens, they ejected the British from the south, driving them northward to their ultimate defeat at Yorktown. The heroic efforts of the Patriots of the southern Colonies have long been overdue for greater recognition, and I am glad to do some small part toward that in telling the story of some of the people who made huge sacrifices and achieved stunning victories in our movement from subjects of the Crown to citizens of the Republic.

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The Prize book coverThe Light book coverThe Smoke book coverA big thanks to Lars Hedbor. He’ll give away a signed paperback set of the first three books in the series to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available within the U.S. and Canada. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Thursday 3 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 3 July deadline will also be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Sizzle Into the 2014 Week-Long Fourth of July Relevant History Book and Prize Giveaway!

In honor of Independence Day, 2 – 9 July 2014, I’m posting an entire week of Relevant History essays with a focus on the Revolutionary War. My guests include Lars D.H. Hedbor (whose essay will kick off the week on 2 July), Dr. Christine Swager, and Jack Parker.

You know the drill. Read the essay, leave a comment, get the chance to win. Readers and history buffs, this is the place to hang out 2 – 9 July.

Freedom to Read 2014 hop imageMy blog is one of about 150 blogs lined up for the “Freedom to Read” hop that runs from 2 – 9 July. When you click on this image here during that week, you can hop to any number of other blogs on the tour. Follow the directions on each blog, and earn the opportunity to win what they’re giving away. Lots of genres, lots of prizes. You could score big by the time the blog tour hops to its completion.

Here’s the lineup:

2 July, Lars D.H. Hedbor — “The Southern Theater of the American Revolution”

3 July, Helena Finnegan — “General Nathanael Greene: the Complete Package”

4 July, Dr. Christine Swager — “Reclaiming One of History’s Treasures”

5 July, David Neilan — “Francis Marion and Nathanel Greene: Conflicts in Command”

6 July, Tim Osner — “Tears of the Foot Guards”

7 July, Sheila Ingle — “Brave Elizabeth”

8 July, Jack Parker — “The Winning of the Revolution in South Carolina”

9 July, Suzanne Adair — “Religious Diversity in America During the Revolution”

Mark your calendars for 2 – 9 July, and make sure you hop back to my blog then for a chance to win books and prizes on this tour.

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